The EAT has held that where a claimant with epilepsy and vitiligo took steps restricting her life due to an unfounded belief that the steps would avoid exacerbating her conditions, this was not a relevant adverse effect when deciding whether she had an EqA disability. It might be different if the claimant had a distinct... Read more »
Estonian regulations allowed spectacles etc to be used in deciding whether prison guards met vision requirements, but did not allow hearing aids in assessing their hearing. The EU court held this hearing requirement was not likely to be justified. More generally, the regulations did not allow consideration of reasonable adjustments. The regulations therefore appeared to... Read more »
Diana Kloss reviews an EAT decision which held an employer was entitled to refuse to second a disabled worker to Montenegro, given advice that she would be at ‘high risk’. OH had disagreed with the ‘high risk’ assessment but did not have the full medical history. The EAT in Judd v Cabinet Office held the... Read more »
The Court of Appeal has held that a worker who took leave which the employer failed to pay because it saw him as ‘self-employed’ could carry the right to paid leave forward indefinitely. In King v Sash Window Workshop, 2017, the European Court had held there could be unlimited carry-forward of paid leave in a... Read more »
The EAT upheld an employer’s decision not to second an employee to Montenegro when the secondment was classified as ‘high risk’ to her health. OH had disagreed with the ‘high risk’ assessment but did not have the full medical history. The EAT held the employment tribunal was entitled to find that the employer’s decision was... Read more »
We are continuing to update our Covid-19 page for recent changes. Changes include: Advice for office workers in England to work from home was withdrawn on 19th January 2022: Covid>Working from home. The English regulations making face coverings compulsory – subject to exemptions – in shops, public transport and various other settings no longer apply... Read more »
To free up GP capacity, employees are temporarily being allowed to self-certify sickness absence of up to 28 days for Statutory Sick Pay, rather than the usual 7 days. This applies if the absence begins between 10th December 2021 and 26th January 2022 inclusive. It only applies to SSP. There is no reason not to... Read more »
The government has announced that when parliamentary time allows it will introduce a right for unpaid carers to take up to 5 working days of unpaid leave per year. This could be used for providing care (or making arrangements for provision of care) for a dependant who requires long-term care. More Time off for dependants>Proposed... Read more »
The EAT considered whether it was fair to dismiss a worker who tested positive for cannabis, having taken it to relieve his back pain. In January 2020 the claimant had returned from a period of 6-7 months off work with severe back pain. In March 2020 a random drugs test found he was positive for... Read more »
An appeal case has upheld two tribunal decisions which had reached opposite conclusions on the same university retirement policy. This was two joined appeals where Professors Pitcher (English Literature) and Ewart (Atomic and Laser Physics) had been required to retire at age 67 under the same university retirement policy. Each case had been heard by... Read more »
